Friday, February 18, 2011

The best part about a weekend lunch is being able to sleep-in, skip breakfast and scoot to your fabulous host, arriving ravenous and ready for maximum feasting.

I say this because today's was a Stomachs Eleven meet-up, a group of food-loving friends who each take turns to host a dinner or lunch. Today we headed to the home of Silvrlily and Super Mario.

Slicing the vegetable terrine

Pig Flyin can never resist bringing an edible contribution. I think this is why we love him so. He and his Mrs presented their homemade vegetable terrine to a crowd of admirers. Florets of cauliflower and stalks of zucchini, carrot, French beans and okra were carefully layered in gelatine, huddled around a central column of scallop mousse.

Vegetable terrine with scallop mousse and mustard vinaigrette

The entire terrine was wrapped in wafer-thin strips of carrot and leek, each slice looking like an exquisite stained glass window. Eating this was like being a kid again, admiring the green bean soldiers, the star-shaped okra, the soft wobble of jelly and, at its heart, the sweet delicacy of scallop boudin blanc.

EDIT: For those who have been asking, the terrine was featured in a Japanese magazine book on terrines. The scallop boudin blanc in the middle is from Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.

Pig Flyin also brought along a ramekin of chicken liver pate and a jar of homemade duck and rabbit rillettes. We slathered these on shards of thin toast, scoffing velvety ribbons of prosciutto in-between.

Smoked salmon quiche

Do I need to tell you we ate ourselves into a stupor? Silvrlily had cooked and baked all morning until the table groaned under the collection of dishes.

Spicy bourbon chicken wings

Cutting the smoked salmon quiche

Chicken and pistachio sandwiches

We nibbled on spicy bourbon wings, dousing them with Louisiana hot sauce until our lips tingled. Smoked salmon quiche was all buttery pastry and warm and eggy middle. I could not stop eating the chicken and pistachio sandwiches, with its fat chunks of chunk mixed through with mayonnaise and bright green pistachio kernels that gave a welcoming crunch.

Moroccan lamb and sultana sausage rolls

Smoky beef and bacon sausage rolls

And sausage rolls fresh from the oven! The fillings were made using sausages from Tender Value Meats in Hornsby, releasing the mince from their casings and wrapping it up in store-bought puff pastry. The fastest way to make Moroccan lamb and Smoky beef and bacon sausage rolls.

Quinoa and corn salad

Salad makes everything healthy again. A quinoa and corn salad was the perfect pick-me-up, zingy with lemon zest, parsley and sprigs of mint.

Petit fours

Hello dessert.

Tying the ribbon on the strawberry charlotte

Silvrlily was worried about her strawberry charlotte, but she shouldn't have been. It was perfectly constructed and beautifully decorated.

Silvrlily's final contribution was one of my favourites of the day: chocolate caramel Matzoh crunch.

Chocolate caramel Matzoh crunch

This is an irresistible shard of deliciousness - a thin brittle of toffee combined with chocolate and toasted almonds. And then add Matzoh, a Jewish cracker eaten at Passover. The Matzoh is all crunch, alleviating some of the sweetness, even as it carries a layer of excess toffee on its underside carriage.

Since then Silvrily has made more variations, substituting the toasted almonds with crushed candy canes or crispy bacon. Bacon caramel chocolate. Oh yeah.

Need some of this in your life right now? Check out the recipe by David Lebovitz. It's incredibly easy. And dangerously addictive.

Teehee, I find it funny that I knew that was a DL recipe at the end there! I know that would've been one of my favourite parts of a meal such as this too :) Everythign looks spectacular! The Strawberry Charlotte and the terrine are too pretty for words :)

Yes, like you, I have been known to admire and grow particularly attached to anyone who brings my attention towards food. I am so jealous you attend these kind of get-togethers! That vegetable terrine is one of the most glorious things I've ever seen! Give your friend my kisses; I am decidedly floored by the precision and presentation. Wow.

And when i read about the sandwich combo of the chicken and pistachio sandwich, i attempted to recreate this by adding crushed pistachios to my boring chicken and mayo mix - no where near as pretty, and I kept the crusts but it was a yummy combo!

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Oh my goodness Helen, these lunches and dinners are becoming famous and deserve a blog by themselves with all the recipes. I'd be so nervous to host a lunch as the food standard is so high and the pressure to make something amazing would be so great.

Love the look of that terrine, super pretty. And that cake is definitely bakery quality.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I've noted a few requests for recipes. Pig Flyin says the terrine comes from a Japanese magazine book on terrines. The scallop boudin blanc in the middle is from Ratios by Michael Ruhlman.

The strawberry charlotte is a recipe by Bea at La Tartine Gourmande found here.